It's A Pirate's Life For You
by Wavie
Summary: When Killian Jones/Captain Hook discovers that the boy he saved from the water is the son of his archenemy but also the son of his lost love he must choose. What shall he do with the boy? Shall he kill him or shall he take him under his wing? Takes place at the beginning of 2x22. This is what I imagines was going through Killian's mind at the time.


_I re-watched all of Hook's scenes on YouTube. I'm a little obsessed with Killian as well as Colin O'Donoghue, I can't help it, he's gorgeous. I really wanted to write something about him and I wanted to explore the Killian/Baelfire relationship._

* * *

Killian was standing at the helm, aboard the Jolly Roger. His hook was resting on the rudder while his left and only hand was clutching a slightly crumpled piece of paper, which Killian's gaze was currently fixed on.

It was a drawing. A drawing of a woman. Of the only woman he had ever had in his life. Not counting the many wenches from the taverns that he had had only for one night, no this woman was the only one who had ever had his heart. And now she was gone and this drawing was all he had left of her. It was foolish, really. This wasn't Milah. This was a drawing, a poor attempt to capture her stunning beauty onto this worthless piece of paper. This didn't look like her, the woman in this drawing wasn't even half as beautiful as her. And yet he held onto it. Just like he had held onto his brother's satchel. They were both memories of someone he loved who had died in his arms while he was too powerless to save them. He dared not get rid of them.

"Milah was quite beautiful, wasn't she?"

Oh how Killian wished that Mr. Smee would just leave him be. He was in no mood for smalltalk.

"Don't worry Captain you'll avenge her. No matter what it takes I know you'll find whatever it takes to kill Rumpelstiltskin."

Yes he would and he bloody well knew it. If he got off this island- no, when he got off this island he would find that crocodile and make him pay for what he did.

Sometimes he still had nightmares about Milah. About her dying in his arms. He remembered it so well. The sight of Rumpelstiltskin holding her heart in his hands and then crushing it to dust in front of Killian's very eyes was forever etched into his memory. The scene was playing in his head at this very moment.

He put the drawing of Milah back into his pocket where he always kept it. The time for sentimentality was now over.

"Mr. Smee what news of the day's catch? The boy we yanked from the sea."

"Still asleep," Smee replied. "Swallowed a bit of water and smells of catfish but he'll live."

Killian nodded. "Where do you suppose he came from, hm? There aren't other ships in the area and his clothes are not of this land".

It was very curious. Neither he or any of his crew had seen anything but mermaids, lost boys and him since arriving to Neverland and none of them even knew how long they had been there. A few months, years or decades maybe. It was hard to tell in a world where time stands still. However long they had been trapped in this cursed realm they had never seen anyone like the boy they had rescued from the waters earlier. They needed to figure out who he was and what he was doing floating around in the waters of Neverland.

"What if the boy belongs to him, Captain. Those he has taken from the other worlds. What if he's one of them? I'd bet my rations on it."

Killian smirked at the possibility. "Indeed but could we be so lucky?"

"Lucky?" Smee asked. "If he is then Pan will be looking for us. He knows this land better than we do."

"Yes," Killian said. "But if we return the boy to him it could be the key to our survival here in Neverland."

Perhaps Pan would show them some mercy and allow the Jolly Roger to leave the Island if they handed over the boy to him. But that sounded too good to be true. Luck was very rare in this realm he shouldn't get ahead of himself. First he had to find out if the boy really did belong to Pan. He had to be a hundred percent sure. He would have to talk to him, to learn more about him before he decided on the best course of action.

"Mr. Smee go downstairs and wake our guest and wait for me. I wish to speak with him".

"Aye, aye, Captain," Mr. Smee said and went below deck leaving Killian alone once again.

Killian caressed the wood of the rudder with his hand while gazing at the stars. By now he had come to know these constellations even better than the ones back in his own realm. He had spent many nights like this, standing alone at the helm, looking at the pitch black sky that hung above the almost equally black sea water.

Everything was black in Neverland. It was quite ironic, really. Neverland was supposed to be a place of joy and happiness, a paradise for children that they could visit in their dreams but it was anything but a paradise. It was a cursed world that you could never leave unless Pan allowed it. And Pan never allowed anyone to leave. He kept them there, trapped on the Island forever for his own entertainment. All those boys that he had stolen away from their families. They would never see their loved ones again. They would be forced to stay young boys forever, acting as Pan's slaves for the rest of their lives.

No wonder the boy had tried to escape. If in fact he was one of them.

Killian made his way below deck towards the room where the boy had been resting.

When he entered the room the boy was sitting on the bed wrapped in a blanket and looking down on his feet.

Killian knew he had to be gentle. This was a child who had been very close to drowning after all. Besides if he wasn't careful he would upset him and then it would be much harder for him to get the information he needed from the boy.

"Ahoy there."

The boy looked up at him.

"Well aren't you lucky to be alive?" Killian said, grinning at him.

"Lucky?" the boy said in a tone that sounded almost like he was mocking him. "I'm a prisoner of pirates in a land cursed by magic."

The boy was in his early teens, Killian could tell. And the look in his eyes and the tone of his voice showed an obvious dislike for magic. Something terrible must have happened to this boy.

"Well, most children think they've found paradise when they lay their eyes on Neverland's magic," he said. "Why else would you be here in the first place?"

"I came here so a family I loved could live," the boy said. There was much bitterness in his voice.

"Well aren't you quite the hero," Killian said and grinned at the boy once more.

"What would you know about that? Pirate."

The boy spat out the last word in disgust. It was nothing new to Killian. Pirates were seen as villains in the eye of the public. If only they knew what their so-called heroes were really like. That was his whole reason for becoming a pirate. At least now he was honest about his dishonest way of living.

Nevertheless he would never leave an innocent boy to drown, though doing so might have been an act of mercy if he had been one of Pan's minions.

He had to get the boy to trust him. He had to get some more information from the boy and the best way to do that was to convince him that he meant him no harm, which he didn't - yet.

"A pirate saved your scrawny ass from the curse of the mermaids."

"A pirate killed my mother and tore apart my family," the boy retorted.

Killian sighed. This was going to be harder than he thought.

"What about your father?" he decided to ask.

"He left me," the boy said. "He's a coward."

Killian was reminded of a conversation he had had long ago at the tavern. The night he first met Milah.

"Others became honored widows while I was stuck with the village coward."

That was what Milah had said to Rumpelstiltskin when he had come to take her home. She had only left when her son showed up. Killian knew why. She hadn't wanted her son to see her like that. Drunk in a tavern, surrounded by strange men who weren't his father. Killian had actually been surprised when she asked to join his crew and sail away with him. He knew how much she loved her son. As had his father, which was probably why she had left him. Because she knew that the crocodile would take care of him.

"What's your name, boy?" Killian asked.

The boy glared at him.

"I don't have to answer to you, pirate!"

This boy was brave, that much was clear. He could prove to be useful aboard the Jolly Roger. He sensed that this boy could handle the hardships of a pirate's life. But the boy still didn't trust him.

"Well I can make you," Killian said, "but to prove to you that not all pirates are as bad as they seem I'll simple ask again. What's. Your. Name?"

Killian dragged out each word as he met the boy's harsh, brown eyes.

"Baelfire," the boy said, staring right back into Killian's sea-blue eyes.

To him just hearing the name spoken felt like a punch in the face. This was the son of the man who had killed his Milah. This was the son of the man who had ripped out the heart of the only one who had given him happiness after his older brother died. This man - no this crocodile may as well have ripped out his heart as well. And the crocodile had been too much of a coward to tell his son the truth, that he was the one who ripped out his mother's heart and it was due to his cowardice that he was without a mother.

Killian may have been a long way from The Dark One but his son was sitting right here in front of him, completely defenseless. Imagine the feeling when he would stand face to face with the crocodile again and he would tell him how he killed his only son? It wouldn't matter if The Dark One killed him afterwards in blind rage because he would have taken something from him too, something equally as precious as a beloved wife, perhaps even more. He would be able to make Rumpelstiltskin suffer just as he had.

But he wasn't just the crocodile's son. He was Milah's son as well. He may have been a pirate but Killian was still a man of honor. He would honor Milah's memory and protect the boy that she had brought into the world. He would protect this boy who was the only living piece of Milah that remained. He would teach him all there was to know about the life at sea as he sailed with him on open seas across the realms just like he and Milah had talked about. Milah had always wanted to come back for her son when he was old enough to travel on the open seas. When he was old enough to realize what a coward his father truly was and he would want to get as far away from him and his dishonorable reputation as possible.

He would protect Milah's boy.

"Welcome aboard Baelfire. It's a pirate's life for you."

* * *

_I wrote almost 2,000 words based on a 2.5 minute video clip? Yes I did. Like I said I can't get enough of Killian. Expect this to be the first Killian story of many to come._


End file.
